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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23146318">MIDNIGHT MOTHER ISSUE 1: MIDNIGHT REAPER</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/cellsinterlinked/pseuds/cellsinterlinked'>cellsinterlinked</a>, <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/SakuraWindChime/pseuds/SakuraWindChime'>SakuraWindChime</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>MIDNIGHT MOTHER: A 10 Issue Series [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Alternate Universe - Western, Bandits &amp; Outlaws, Comic Script, Drama, Established Relationship, Horseback Riding, Injury, M/M, Screenplay/Script Format, Texas, Vampires, Western</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 10:21:13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,194</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23146318</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/cellsinterlinked/pseuds/cellsinterlinked, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SakuraWindChime/pseuds/SakuraWindChime</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>In the mid 1900's, Yuuri Katsuki and Viktor Nikiforov, centuries-old vampires, arrive in Texas to find their missing friend. But when a vengeful vampire hunter enacts his revenge on the two, a race against time for the two Vampire lovers to save each other is kicked off.</p><p>Issue 1 of a new Vampire AU fic journey across a century and across the world, written in Comic Script form.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>MIDNIGHT MOTHER: A 10 Issue Series [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1663816</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>MIDNIGHT MOTHER ISSUE 1: MIDNIGHT REAPER</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Story by cellsinterlinked and SakuraWindChime</p><p>Script by cellsinterlinked</p><p> </p><p>(OP) means off-panel.<br/>(...) means the character is thinking, not talking.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  
</p><p> </p><p>PAGE ONE</p><p>1.1<br/>Wide panel. Night. High-angle, establishing shot of Klynn, a small American boom town, and by small I mean small, as it only has two rows of buildings facing each other. One of these, slightly bigger, is a saloon. At the edge of the town sits a barn with a bullpen just outside, a few horses wandering about. The town is surrounded by nothing else except dry land, cacti, and pitch black, we’re more or less in the middle of nowhere. At the other end of the panel, a horse-drawn carriage, driven by a man in a black duster with a top hat, enters the town.</p><p>1.2<br/>We’re now inside the town. The carriage comes to a halt just in front of the saloon, a small dust cloud kicking up around the horses’ hooves. The driver calls into the carriage.</p><p>DRIVER: We’ve arrived!<br/>DRIVER (2): Welcome to Klynn, Texas!</p><p>1.3<br/>Wide. Two gentlemen, dressed smartly in black cloaks, black trousers and waistcoats and also wearing top hats, have exited the carriage. One of them, with silver hair, walks towards the saloon. The other, with black hair, hands a bag of coins to the driver, who tips his hat.</p><p>1.4<br/>Inside the saloon, in front of a door. The two gentlemen stand shoulder to shoulder, the silver-haired one knocks.</p><p>SFX: KNOCK</p><p>1.5<br/>Inside the room, dark except for a single candle. A bald, scruffy looking saloon KEEPER (wearing a union suit) sits up on his bed, picking up his single-action army revolver. He’s not in the best mood.</p><p>KEEPER: Who ’n the hell is knockin’ at this hour?</p><p><br/>PAGE TWO</p><p>2.1<br/>Outside the door, now open just a bit as the Keeper looks out towards us with his unfriendly face.</p><p>KEEPER: What do you want?</p><p>2.2<br/>Reverse POV of the two gentlemen, YUURI and the slightly taller VIKTOR, looking at us, unthreatening.</p><p>VIKTOR: We’d like to rent a room for the day.<br/>VIKTOR (2): This is a saloon, right?</p><p>2.3<br/>Close on the Keeper, looking calmer, stroking his beard, door opened a bit more.</p><p>KEEPER (…): For the day? That’s mighty weird. Still, if they’re tourists I suppose they won’t know much better…<br/>KEEPER: Uh, well sure, but to rent a room for the day is a little more expensive, about uh…<br/>KEEPER (2): Five dollars.</p><p>2.4<br/>Yuuri holds out a five-dollar bill.</p><p>YUURI: Here.<br/>KEEPER (… OP): These tourists aren’t kidding around!</p><p>2.5<br/>The Keeper, holding his candle, unlocks a room with a key, Viktor and Yuuri standing behind him.</p><p>2.6<br/>The Keeper walks away as Yuuri, now sans hat and from inside the room, closes the door.</p><p>YUURI: Thank you very much. We’ll be leaving at nightfall. Goodnight!<br/>KEEPER: Night!<br/>KEEPER (…): Or should I say day? I dunno. I’m going back to bed.</p><p>PAGE THREE</p><p>3.1<br/>Day, in the saloon. The Keeper, now dressed in a shirt with an apron, stands behind the counter, cleaning it as he talks to a cowboy, leaning in with curiosity.</p><p>KEEPER: …they looked extremely pale, and they were wearing these black cloaks.<br/>KEEPER (2): At first I thought they must be English or sumthin’, but one of them was clearly Oriental.</p><p>3.2<br/>The Keeper now talks to two other cowboys, both holding a glass of beer, one of the drinking it.</p><p>KEEPER: As if it wasn’t strange enough that you got two foreigners in this here west Texas, they asked for a room for the day, not the night.</p><p>3.3<br/>The Keeper, with a slightly smug look on his face and leaning on the counter, talks to one of the ‘saloon ladies’. She’s fanning herself, extremely bored.</p><p>KEEPER: Best part was they were rich, no questions asked.<br/>KEEPER (2): Which means I have an extra dollar or two to spend, if you’re interested.</p><p>3.4<br/>Same shot, the lady walks away as the Keeper is distracted by a figure who has slightly entered the panel (we only see their shoulder).</p><p>OLD MAN: Quite a fascinating tale there, my good man. <br/>OLD MAN (2): Whiskey.<br/>OLD MAN (3): Tell me, how long did the gentlemen ask to stay?</p><p>3.5<br/>Same shot. The Keeper hands the old man a shot of whiskey, holding the bottle in his other hand. The old man reaches for the shot.</p><p>KEEPER: I think the shorter one said they’d be leaving by nightfall.<br/>OLD MAN: Interesting.</p><p>3.6<br/>Profile, extreme close-up on the man’s smiling lips, topped with a grey moustache, his gloved hand holding the whiskey glass close to his mouth.</p><p>OLD MAN: Very interesting…</p><p>PAGE FOUR</p><p>4.1<br/>Wide panel as the sun sets on the town.</p><p>4.2<br/>Single panel, Viktor and Yuuri walk out of the saloon in their cloaks, the latter putting on his top hat.</p><p>4.3<br/>Single panel, in front of the barn from the first panel, Viktor hands cash to the horse trader in bg. In fg, Yuuri, smiling, caresses a horse’s muzzle.</p><p>4.4<br/>Wide panel as the two ride out of town, into the night. At the edge of the panel in fg, a signpost indicating the way to three different places. On a sign pointing left, (where Viktor and Yuuri are going), FORT ZEPPELI. Underneath and pointing to the right, MARSTON VALLEY and MORGAN RIVER.</p><p>PAGE FIVE</p><p>5.1<br/>Wide as the two ride at high speed, surrounded by large, tall rocks.</p><p>5.2<br/>Viktor, looking ahead, calm, pulls his reins, bringing his horse to an abrupt stop. He holds out his hand to indicate Yuuri to stop.</p><p>VIKTOR: Yuuri, stop!<br/>YUURI: What is it, Viktor?<br/>VIKTOR (2): Something’s not right. I sense trouble.</p><p>5.3<br/>Close on Yuuri, looking ahead.</p><p>YUURI: Yeah…<br/>YUURI (2): I sense it too…</p><p>5.4<br/>Angle on THREE bandits, two (FORD and JOE) coming out from behind a boulder pointing their Winchester rifles, one (MICK) who was hiding behind a smaller rock, wearing a sawn-off shotgun on his holster.</p><p>YUURI (OP): And of course…<br/>MICK: We got ourselves a catch tonight, boys!</p><p>5.5<br/>Wide shot of the scene, the three bandits approaching, Joe getting closer to Viktor and Yuuri.</p><p>VIKTOR: Gentlemen, I suggest we have ourselves a pleasant evening and go about our separate ways.<br/>MICK: Sounds like a plan.We have our very pleasant evening, while you and your cash go your separate ways.<br/>MICK (2): Joe, kindly collect your donation from these generous and wealthy tourists.</p><p>PAGE SIX</p><p>6.1<br/>Joe, approaching Yuuri, keeps his rifle pointed right at him.</p><p>JOE: Alright, traveller. Get off the horse, slowly now.</p><p>6.2<br/>Yuuri pounces off of his horse and onto Joe, punching the rifle’s barrel away. Yuuri’s hat falls off.</p><p>JOE: Oh shi-</p><p>6.3<br/>Joe falls onto the ground, Yuuri on top of him.</p><p>JOE: Urgh!<br/>SFX: SMACK</p><p>6.4<br/>Close on Joe as Yuuri right hooks him with enough force to knock a few teeth out.</p><p>6.5<br/>Wide panel, Yuuri has just thrown Joe’s limp body (movement lines) hitting Ford with plenty of force. In the background, Mick is shocked.</p><p>FORD: You sunnuva bitch I’m gonna-<br/>FORD (2): Aurgh!<br/>MICK: What the hell!</p><p>PAGE SEVEN</p><p>Four wide panels.</p><p>7.1<br/>On Mick, shaking, pulling out his sawn-off shotgun.</p><p>MICK: I don’t know what the hell you are or where you come from…</p><p>7.2<br/>Wielding the shotgun with one hand, he points it towards Yuuri (off-panel). In the background, Viktor pushes back his cloak, revealing a rapier in a sheath.</p><p>MICK: But I’m done with this and I’m done with you!</p><p>7.3<br/>Viktor dashes in, slicing down on the shotgun, cutting off most of the barrel. Mick seems to fall back in shock.</p><p>MICK: What in the hell!<br/>SFX: SCHWING</p><p>7.4<br/>Viktor sticks the rapier through the bottom of Mick’s jaw, impaling him on the sword. Mick bleeds from the mouth.</p><p>MICK: Guargh!<br/>SFX: ZHING</p><p>PAGE EIGHT</p><p>8.1<br/>Viktor, having pulled the sword out and with Joe now dead on the floor, surveys the scene. Yuuri picks up his hat, dusting it off.</p><p>8.2<br/>Yuuri sticks his hat back on.</p><p>YUURI: What should we do with them?</p><p>8.3<br/>Viktor cleans his sword with a large white handkerchief (now partly red with blood).</p><p>VIKTOR: I say we stock up whilst we can. Then we hide the bodies somewhere.</p><p>8.4<br/>Sheathing his rapier, Viktor kneels down next to Joe, smiling.</p><p>VIKTOR: The vultures will take care of the rest soon enough.</p><p>8.5<br/>Wide panel, in bg the two ride into the distance once more. In fg, the dried, decomposed, near-skeletal bodies of the three bandits, hidden behind a rock.</p><p>VIKTOR: By the way…<br/>VIKTOR (2): You’re getting rusty, darling.<br/>YUURI: Cut me some slack, I haven’t had to think that quickly in a long time!</p><p>PAGE NINE</p><p><br/>9.1<br/>In fg, our two protagonists, trotting along towards Fort Zeppeli in bg, an abandoned confederate fort, worn and weathered over time, but the high wall and wooden double-doors are still standing.</p><p>9.2<br/>From inside as Viktor and Yuuri push the double-doors open, Yuuri brandishes a lantern.</p><p>9.3<br/>Wide panel, they walk into the open courtyard of the fort, hauntingly empty. The courtyard features stables (empty), cannons (dispersed) and a long set of gallows, enough to hang five people at once. There are also stairs that lead up to the upper level. In the past 50 years it’s definitely been raided and ‘repurposed’ by bandits, but by now is just a testament to the failure of the confederacy.</p><p>VIKTOR: Where would it be?<br/>YUURI: Anywhere. But this was definitely the place.<br/>VIKTOR (2): Here as well, of all places…</p><p>9.4<br/>Wide, we’re now inside a room repurposed to be a very simple bedroom, just a bed, a table, a small bookshelf. No windows. Yuuri holds the door open as he looks in.</p><p>YUURI: He’s not in his abode…<br/>YUURI (2): He can’t have gone too far, keep looking!</p><p>9.5<br/>Close on Yuuri, walking down a hallway away from the previous room, looking towards the direction of Yuuri’s voice.</p><p>VIKTOR (OP): Yuuri, I need you to come here now!<br/>YUURI: What is it?!</p><p>9.6<br/>Under the gallows in the courtyard. Low angle, looking up at a kneeling Viktor, his hat off, eyes closed, in anguish. Behind him, Yuuri approaches with his lantern, concerned.</p><p>VIKTOR: I think…<br/>VIKTOR (2): I think we’ve found him.</p><p>PAGE TEN</p><p>10.1<br/>Reverse as we look down on a skull, on its side. Jaw slightly broken off, three bullet holes across its face.</p><p>VIKTOR (OP): Johnny…</p><p>10.2<br/>Close on Yuuri, angry.</p><p>YUURI: Wait, but this is just a skull. How do we know it’s actually him?<br/>YUURI (2): We’re under the gallows, it could be anyone!</p><p>10.3<br/>On Viktor, holding up the skull, pointing at the bullet holes.</p><p>VIKTOR: See these bullet holes? They’re unique to him.<br/>VIKTOR (2): We were with him in Detroit when he was shot, I remember the whole thing like it was yesterday.<br/>VIKTOR (3): Of course, his brain healed right away, but the skull less so.</p><p>10.4<br/>Closer in on Viktor, now with the skull lowered, looking down. He’s accepted the truth. Yuuri kneels next to Viktor and watches him with a quieter sadness, laying a comforting hand on his shoulder.</p><p>VIKTOR: This was Johnny.<br/>VIKTOR (2): And he’s gone now.</p><p>10.5<br/>Slightly closer on Viktor, shocked at the sudden voice.</p><p>VOICE (OP): Good riddance too!</p><p>10.6<br/>In bg, Yuuri and Viktor now stood up, Viktor’s fists clenched, Yuuri takes a step back, holding the lantern up. In fg, a hand holds a long rifle.</p><p>OLD MAN (OP): It’ll be a good riddance when all of your are dealt with and gone.<br/>VIKTOR: Who are you? What do you want?</p><p>PAGE ELEVEN</p><p>11.1<br/>Profile, close, on the OLD MAN from earlier, KOLYA PLISETSKY, wearing a black hat and a smart black coat. He shouts, furious.</p><p>KOLYA: I am Baron Plistesky! Remember that name?<br/>KOLYA (2): You’re the bastard that took away the one thing I loved.<br/>KOLYA (3): All that you have left for me is the contempt I have for you.</p><p>11.2<br/>Reverse profile on Viktor, scared, sweating.</p><p>VIKTOR: I know who you are. How could I not?<br/>VIKTOR (2): I never wanted to take anything from you! I wanted to help!<br/>VIKTOR (3): Believe me Baron, there was no other way.</p><p>11.3<br/>Kolya looks at them, stern.</p><p>KOLYA: Lies! Lies as always! I’m sick of it!<br/>KOLYA: Was there also no other way for the poor individuals you assaulted earlier on the way here?</p><p>11.4<br/>On Viktor and Yuuri, illuminated intensely by the lantern. Yuuri shouts back, Viktor tries to keep confident.</p><p>YUURI: No, you don’t understand, they assaulted us first!<br/>YUURI (2): They were nothing but low-life highway robbers!<br/>VIKTOR: We don’t want any trouble. We just came here to collect the remains of our friend.</p><p>11.5<br/>Low angle on Kolya, red hot anger in his eyes, clenched teeth.</p><p>KOLYA: You don’t want any trouble? After giving us nothing but trouble?<br/>KOLYA (2): You are all arrogant, disgusting, vile creatures.</p><p>11.6<br/>Medium shot, eye level of Kolya aiming his rifle at Viktor as he cocks it.</p><p>KOLYA: I will stop your disgusting corruption of this world if it’s the last thing I do!</p><p><br/>PAGE TWELVE</p><p>12.1<br/>Frontal on Yuuri, sheer panic, readying himself to jump.</p><p>YUURI: No!</p><p>12.2<br/>Close on the muzzle on the rifle firing, explosive background.</p><p>SFX: BANG</p><p>12.3<br/>Wide panel frontal, Yuuri jumps in front of Viktor. Viktor, behind him, flinches, shocked.</p><p>VIKTOR: Yuuri!</p><p>12.4<br/>Insert overlay over 12.3. A long bullet with a sharp needle protruding hits Yuuri’s neck with a strong impact, digging into the skin but not penetrating.</p><p>12.5<br/>Insert overlay over 12.3. The lantern crashes as it hits the floor, flames breaking out.</p><p>12.6<br/>Viktor runs towards us, reaching for his rapier, a quiet fury building up.</p><p>VIKTOR: You…</p><p>12.7<br/>Over Viktor’s shoulder as he swings the rapier, cutting Kolya’s gloved hands off (still brandishing the rifle) in a single slice. Kolya reels in pain, looking up in agony.</p><p>KOLYA: Aarggh!<br/>VIKTOR: What have you done?!</p><p>12.8<br/>Reverse, we’re behind Kolya as a furious Viktor hits Kolya with a flurry of stabs through his chest, which we see coming out of his back. Blood flows freely from Kolya’s mouth.</p><p>VIKTOR: How dare you!</p><p>PAGE THIRTEEN</p><p>13.1<br/>In fg, Kolya’s deceased body, blood still flowing from the open mouth, eyes wide open. In bg, Viktor, sheathing the rapier, runs towards Yuuri, curled up into a fetal position.</p><p>VIKTOR: Yuuri!</p><p>13.2<br/>Viktor kneels next to Yuuri, holding his shoulders. Yuuri is now paler than before, profusely sweating, extremely weak.</p><p>VIKTOR: What’s going on? Yuuri!<br/>YUURI: Numb… feel numb…</p><p>13.3<br/>Close on the bullet in Yuuri’s neck, now removed by Viktor, revealing a small needle on the end.</p><p>VIKTOR: What the hell…</p><p>13.4<br/>Viktor slides his arms under Yuuri’s neck and knees, ready to lift him up. Trying to remain calm.</p><p>VIKTOR: It’s okay… We’ll get you help, just hang on.<br/>VIKTOR (…) (2): Where though? Who is in a position to help us?</p><p>13.5<br/>Viktor, carrying a near passed-out Yuuri, walks out of the Fort’s doors, towards his horse.</p><p>VIKTOR (…): Wait, there is someone!<br/>VIKTOR (…) (2): Is there? How close is he? He did say Texas, but Texas is huge.<br/>VIKTOR (…) (3): But what other choice do I have?</p><p>13.6<br/>Viktor gently sits Yuuri, barely conscious, on the front of the saddle</p><p>VIKTOR (…): Did he say he was close to the Arkansas border? I don’t even know how close we are, but I have to get moving.</p><p>13.7<br/>Yuuri, weak, sits in front of Viktor, bracketed by his arms on the reigns gallops away from the fort in the background, gritted teeth and determined, with no time to waste. </p><p>VIKTOR (…): Hang on, Yuuri.</p><p>PAGE FOURTEEN</p><p>14.1<br/>Inside a bedroom, close on Dr YAKOV FELTSMAN as he sleeps soundly in bed, dressed in pyjamas and a night cap, mouth open, drooling.</p><p>SFX: Zzzz…</p><p>14.2<br/>Same shot, a hand on his shoulder shakes him, startling him as he wakes up.</p><p>VOICE (OP): Doctor!<br/>YAKOV: что за хрень!</p><p>14.3<br/>We pull out, Yakov now sitting up against his bed frame, Viktor standing opposite him, holding his hands up, trying to calm Yakov.</p><p>YAKOV: Wha- Viktor?!<br/>VIKTOR: Извините доктор.<br/>YAKOV: What are you doing here? How did you get in?</p><p>14.4<br/>Reverse shot over Viktor’s shoulder, Yakov putting on his spectacles. Still waking up, his eyes are still closed.</p><p>VIKTOR: No time to explain, listen, I need your help.<br/>VIKTOR (2): We need your help.<br/>YAKOV: What is the matter? </p><p>14.5<br/>On Viktor, serious, his head leaning forward, the desperation is breaking through.</p><p>VIKTOR: It’s Yuuri, doctor. Someone shot him.<br/>YAKOV (OP): So? We’re vampires, bullets barely tickle us.<br/>VIKTOR (2): No, this wasn’t an ordinary bullet.</p><p>14.6<br/>On Yakov, now fully awake but genuinely concerned.</p><p>VIKTOR (OP): I don’t know what’s going on, but something is happening to Yuuri.</p><p>PAGE FIFTEEN</p><p>15.1<br/>Yakov, now dressed in a white doctor’s coat and round spectacles that obscure his eyes, holds open the door to his clinic, standing in the doorway with a candle holder. He looks to the left, focused.</p><p>15.2<br/>Same shot, he now looks to the right. Viktor now stands behind him in the doorway.</p><p>YAKOV: No-one around.<br/>YAKOV (2): Fetch the patient.<br/>YAKOV (3): Not a sound.</p><p>15.3<br/>Wide shot, we see Viktor’s horse, and Viktor carrying Yuuri inside Yakov’s clinic, a double-storey building. His apartment is the top floor, in fact we can see an open window, and the clinic itself is on the ground floor. We can also see the rest of this small boom town, a little smaller than Klynn.</p><p>15.4<br/>Interior, Yakov’s clinic, a formal room with no windows. Shot from above, Viktor placing the unconscious Yuuri on a long wooden table. Yakov stands opposite Viktor, holding his free hand out.</p><p>YAKOV: Gently now.<br/>YAKOV (2): Where is the projectile?<br/>VIKTOR: In my pocket.<br/>YAKOV (3): Hand it over.</p><p>15.5<br/>Yakov sits at his work surface, candle down next to him, squeezing the last drops of the liquid into a small metal plate. It has a dark colour, tint of green.</p><p>YAKOV: Let’s have a look.<br/>YAKOV (2): This bullet is meticulously engineered. It injects whatever substance it contains, but only on impact.<br/>YAKOV (3): Whoever used this had certainly planned to do so.</p><p>15.6<br/>He sticks his pinky, lightly dabbed with the substance, on his tongue.</p><p>YAKOV: I know it’s not exactly sanitary or safe or downright medical, but…<br/>YAKOV (2): Tasting something is, I’ve found, the most efficient method.<br/>YAKOV (3): Hmm… It tastes like all kinds of things… including…</p><p>15.7<br/>Closer in, his expression turns cold as he realises what it is.</p><p>YAKOV: Oh… Oh dear.<br/>YAKOV (2): Yes, I know exactly what this is.</p><p>PAGE SIXTEEN</p><p>16.1<br/>Viktor in bg looks on worried to Yakov, fg, looking down at his desk.</p><p>VIKTOR: What, what is it?<br/>YAKOV: I… never thought I’d actually be looking at this.</p><p>16.2<br/>Yakov turns to face Viktor, holding up the small plate containing the liquid.</p><p>YAKOV: This here that I extracted from the bullet is Midnight Reaper. It’s a deadly combination of human blood, lead…</p><p>16.3<br/>On the liquid in the dish.</p><p>YAKOV (OP): …and Blackheart.</p><p>16.4<br/>On Viktor.</p><p>VIKTOR: B-Blackheart?<br/>YAKOV (OP): A substance so rare I thought it was more a myth than anything else. No one knows where it came from. Depending on the mixture, it can convert humans into vampires.<br/>YAKOV (OP) (2): Or the other way around.</p><p>16.5<br/>On the bullet on the work-surface, a small drop falling off the end of the syringe, illuminated by the candle. Next to it, Yakov puts the metal dish down.</p><p>YAKOV: Midnight Reaper is a potion specifically made to kill vampires. The human blood makes the vampires instantly vulnerable, the lead poisons the blood to exploit the sudden weakness of the victim, and makes the process more painful. If the vampire is particularly old, their age will suddenly catch up to them, which as I’m sure you can imagine, is not particularly pleasant.</p><p>16.6<br/>Yakov stands over Yuuri on the table, examining him, hands behind his back.</p><p>YAKOV: Thankfully, whoever made this did not know too well what they were doing. They had the materials, but the mixture itself is poorly made. This, combined with Yuuri’s relative youth, means the full effects will be significantly delayed.<br/>VIKTOR (OP): He collapsed into a cold sweat and you call that significantly delayed?!<br/>YAKOV (2): The sudden shock of the injection of a strong foreign substance will do that. His body will be able to recover from this shock. For the full effects, it will take a long time to kill him, about a century.</p><p>16.7<br/>Close on Yakov, he looks up at Viktor.</p><p>YAKOV: But make no mistake.<br/>YAKOV (2): It will kill him.</p><p>PAGE SEVENTEEN</p><p>17.1<br/>Viktor, tears building up in his eyes as he looks down at Yuuri.</p><p>VIKTOR: Doctor… what… what can we do?<br/>VIKTOR (2): What can I do?</p><p>17.2<br/>Wide from above, the two of them standing over Yuuri.</p><p>YAKOV: The solution is not simple, but it is straightforward. As Blackheart caused the problem, it can also fix it.</p><p>17.3<br/>On Yuuri, sweating, pained expression.</p><p>YAKOV (OP): There is a mixture called Midnight Mother. Named so because as opposed to taking life like the reaper, it gives life instead, whether it’s restoration, or welcoming a mortal into the vampire realm.<br/>YAKOV (OP) (2): By mixing enough Blackheart with enough pure vampire blood and injecting it back into his bloodstream, young Yuuri’s decaying vampiric genes will restore themselves…</p><p>17.4 <br/>On Yakov.</p><p>YAKOV: …And his healing factor will kick back in. The poisoned blood will be overpowered immediately.</p><p>PAGE EIGHTEEN</p><p>18.1<br/>Viktor, calm, trying to keep it together, looking down with his eyes shut.</p><p>VIKTOR: Okay, sure…<br/>VIKTOR (2): But where do we even begin to find this ‘Blackheart’?</p><p>18.2<br/>Reverse on Yakov, looking down, adjusting his spectacles.</p><p>YAKOV: I will not lie to you, Nikiforov.<br/>YAKOV (2): I and many colleagues thought the substance had been long gone, a relic of a forgotten history.<br/>YAKOV (3): A good riddance too, we thought.</p><p>18.3<br/>Over Yakov’s shoulder as Viktor scrunches his face. He doesn’t like to hear this, but he knows it’s the truth and he can’t do anything about it.</p><p>YAKOV: I have no idea where I would even begin to look.<br/>YAKOV (2): You might find it tonight, you might find it tomorrow, you might find it in a hundred years.<br/>YAKOV (3): At this point, I cannot help you further.</p><p>18.4<br/>Same shot, Yakov has now turned and walks towards us.</p><p>YAKOV: I suggest you start looking now.</p><p>18.5<br/>Yakov, leaning down, takes a few glass bottles out of a cupboard under his work surface, containing a crimson liquid.</p><p>YAKOV: I’ll give Yuuri some blood to get him back on his feet.<br/>YAKOV (2): After this, there truly is nothing else I can do.</p><p>PAGE NINETEEN</p><p>19.1<br/>Outside. Yuuri is now back on his feet but weaker, clenching his stomach. Viktor, braces Yuuri’s body, wrapping an arm around Yuuri’s back with Viktor’s hand under the armpit.</p><p>CAPTION: “But I wish you the very best of luck.”</p><p>19.2<br/>Viktor lifts Yuuri up onto the horse onto the front of the saddle.</p><p>19.3<br/>Viktor, now on the horse behind a barely conscious Yuuri, looks off towards the mountains with trepidation.</p><p>CAPTION: Me and Yuuri always knew we’d be living, in a sense, as fugitives.</p><p>19.4<br/>Beyond the mountains, the glow of daylight. The sun is still hidden behind the mountains.</p><p>CAPTION: Fugitives from society, fugitives from those who despise us for who we are.<br/>CAPTION (2): Fugitives from that which can only hurt us, and not the fragile mortals.</p><p>19.5<br/>Viktor dashes off, away from the sun.</p><p>CAPTION: I used to think that if nothing else, we had evaded the grasp of time.<br/>CAPTION (2): And now… well, the joke’s on us.</p><p>PAGE TWENTY</p><p>20.1<br/>Splash page. We’re inside a cave. On the left side of the panel, Viktor and Yuuri are sat, Yuuri sleeping on Viktor’s shoulder. Viktor, tired, spent, has his arms wrapped tightly around his lover and looks away towards the right side of the panel, where the sun burns its rays through the mouth of the cave.</p><p>CAPTION: But we have been running away, together, for so long.<br/>CAPTION (2): And I won’t stop running away with you.<br/>CAPTION (3): Not now.<br/>CAPTION (4): Not in a 100 years.<br/>CAPTION (5): Nothing will catch us.<br/>CAPTION (6): I promise you.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Next time, on Midnight Mother... Nearly a decade on and desperate for leads, Yuuri and Viktor visit an old acquaintance, in the unsettling and haunted locales of New Orleans.</p><p>Issue 2 coming soon, hopefully around Mid-April.</p></blockquote><div class="children module" id="children">
  <b class="heading">Works inspired by this one:</b>
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        <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29006718">Midnight Mother</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/cellsinterlinked/pseuds/cellsinterlinked">cellsinterlinked</a>, <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/SakuraWindChime/pseuds/SakuraWindChime">SakuraWindChime</a>
    </li>
  </ul>
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